Again
by firetiger3
Summary: A second chance, that was something not everyone had. The only reason she had one was from months of research, and the only reason she needed one was the destruction of the things she loved most. If she failed, then she wouldn't hesitate to do it over and over, again and again. And if she couldn't have another chance, then she would make one for herself. Up for adoption.
1. The Beginning

This is my first fic, so please be gentle! I don't mind helpful criticism, but no flames please.

I've had this idea for a while, but I didn't fully develop it until now, hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading!

"Nya~" Talking

_'Nya~' Thinking_

**'Nya~' Inner**

Note: This will be a Non-Massacre fic, meaning the Uchiha Clan Massacre won't happen/did not happen.

* * *

Sakura stood there at the great gates in shock. She had only returned from a long-term mission, so she had been spared slaughter. The great Konoha was now in ruins as a result from a well planned attack from Akatsuki.

Life as she knew it was gone. Everyone was dead. Everyone she loved, they were all gone. And she couldn't do a thing about it.

Before she could break down and cry right then and there, she decided to look what was left of Konoha.

The first place she came to was none other then Ichiraku Ramen. It was only a pile of wood and steel, the flags symbolizing Naruto's favorite restaurant were burnt and tattered. This place had definitely not been spared. But that made sense, it held no importance to anyone outside the village, the enemy would have no second thoughts in wrecking the place, maybe even looting it afterwords, perhaps just to spite the deceased owners.

Ayame, the owner's daughter was crushed beneath a large support beam, her frail body broken in too many places to count. Her delicate brown hair framed her face beautifully, she seemed so peaceful, almost as if she was fast asleep instead of dead. But the dried blood matting her head told Sakura differently.

Teuchi, the owner laid not to far away, but unlike his daughter, was atop the pieces of rubble. His hand was outstretched to Ayame, forever caught in a last hope to save his precious daughter. A kunai was wedged into his back, the blood had dried up on his once white robes.

_'May they forever rest in peace...' _Sakura thought sadly, kneeling by the bodies of the Ramen Shop Owners. She said a silent Prayer to Kami before standing up again to see the rest of the damage done to the Village.

The next building she came to was the Hokage Tower. Large slabs of stone littered the floor, many were trapped under the rubble, not lucky enough to escape. But those who had managed to were only met with a barrage of kunai and shuriken, the evidence was deeply implanted into the bodies fallen to the stained ground.

Her beloved Tsunade-shishou was probably trapped somewhere under there, not to mention Naruto who had been learning to finally become Hokage. Kakashi may have been under there, and Ino too, the former looking for a mission as well as his place in ANBU, the latter working in the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force, thanks to her Shintenshin no Jutsu .

Sakura found a flower growing through the cracks of the concrete sidewalk and gently plucked it. She stared at it for a while before sticking it between two pieces of rubble. "I'll... I'll miss you all..." muttered Sakura. Silent tears ran down her face as she recalled the fond memories she had of all of them.

_'Damn Akatsuki! Why did they have to destroy everything!' _

She fell to her knees in the ruins of the once great Konoha. But then she remembered, she had another chance! Over the past few monthes, she had spent countless hours sealed in the library, studying ways to send a person to the past or future.

_'But the jutsu hasn't been perfected yet...'_ she suddenly remembered, gritting her teeth violently.

**'But that doesn't matter! Everyone's dead. We have nothing more to lose!' **Inner pressed. Somewhere deep down Sakura knew that Inner was right, without Konoha and her friends, she was nothing.

Shaky hands tried desperately to steady themselves to form suitable hand seals. She had memorized all of them, how could she not? She had spent a great amount of time perfecting each and every aspect, but even that wasn't enough, it still needed work. But it would have to do.

_'This had better work... I've worked far too long and too hard for all of it to go to waste...'_ As she finished the last seal, a large light engulfed her.

"I'm sorry.." she murmured then closed her eyes.

And then nothing.

* * *

Sakura's eyes fluttered open and she shot up. _'Did it work! Or am I still in the ruins?'_

**'No... No, it worked... It worked! We can save Konoha!' **Inner was squealing like a fangirl, dancing around in Sakura's head.

_'I-I can't believe it! We're 6 again! We can stop Akatsuki! Wait.. but where are we?'_

Sakura glanced around. From what she could tell in the dark, she was in her room in her parent's house. She struggled to prop herself on the high window that overlooked one side of the Village. The night was peaceful, the wind blowing pleasantly and the only sounds being the occasional chirp of an owl or crinkle of a roof tile as ninja hopped across. A few leaves floated by, lazily caught in the night breeze. She sat there for a while, taking in the peaceful sight and enjoying Konoha in all its pride and glory once again.

_'Ah, If I recall correctly, we'll be starting the Academy tomorrow. This will be our first step,'_

**'What's the plan in the long run? How are we going to stop Akatsuki?'**

_'Firstly, we become stronger, we should still have all our old jutsu and skills. Secondly, we help others become stronger. There's still a lot we need to correct in our past though, but for now, we need to sleep. Night,'_

**'Night,'**

* * *

The next morning Sakura woke early, only an hour before her alarm went off. She sat in bed for awhile in disbelief, she really was in the past... She really could change how everything turned out.

After half an hour she swung herself out of bed and took a long shower. As soon as she was out, she stood in front of her closet, contemplating what to wear.

_'I can't wear that horrid dress, lucky I have other clothes besides that...'_

She stood there for a few minutes before finally dressing herself in tight dark green shorts, a sleeve-less black top with the Haruno symbol on the back, and black leather gloves.

**'Alright, I hope these next few years will go by fast...'**

_'Don't we all, don't we all. At least there were SOME good moments during the Academy years.'_

Sakura made her way down the stairs and sat at the dining room table for breakfast. "Morning, Mother, Father."

Yumiko Haruno sat across from her daughter and smiled at the young girl. "Eat up, Sweetie! Today's your first day at the Academy!" Yumiko was a proud women, but she was also short-tempered, which she passed on to her daughter. Both were traits that sometimes got the better of her, very often, actually, but most of the time she could keep herself in check.

Right now she was proud of her only child, the first to become a Ninja in their family. It wasn't like the previous Harunos were prohibited from becoming proud Shinobi for their Village. Quite the opposite actually, they were encouraged to, but no one had the courage to step up.

Hiro Haruno sat at the head of the table, slowly sipping at his coffee. "Make us proud, Sakura-chan." he told the girl. He wasn't smiling, but the twinkle in his eyes betrayed him. Hiro, too, was proud of his daughter, especially since he himself was saved by Ninja more then a few times.

Sakura nodded cheerfully, buttering a piece of toast and popping it into her mouth. "Ah, I'll be late... Bye Mother! Father!" She kissed both of them before rushing out of the house and to the all-too-familiar Ninja Academy.

* * *

The next six years passed quickly and normally, except for a few things Sakura decided to correct.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, she didn't fawn over Sasuke like before, so there was no competition with Ino. As a result, the two stayed best friends throughout their Academy years. Ino came to Sakura to explain all her problems about her "one true love" and her love rivals.

Another change Sakura made was her treatment of Naruto. Now that she knew about the Kyuubi, she could see that how the Villagers and the other Academy Students treated him was wrong. They became fast friends, Naruto was glad to have any friends at all, which made his behavior, as Sakura called it, cute.

There were a few things Sakura didn't change though, one being the girls who bullied her, she had to keep up the weak and helpless facade, which she successfully did. The girls constantly bullied her after and during school, taunting her about her large forehead. Ino and Naruto constantly had to save her and threatened the other girls, which unfortunately didn't work since they always came back for more.

It was the day they were all to be assigned to their Genin Teams. They had all been looking forward to it for quite a long time, more Ino then anyone else.

"I hope I get on Sasuke-kun's team!" Ino chirped happily to her two best friends.

Naruto rolled his eyes and walked along Sakura with his hands behind his heads. "Heh, what's so good about that teme?"

"Naruto! How dare you talk about Sasuke-kun like that!" Ino practically flew at Naruto, outraged. But luckily Sakura stopped her before she could beat the poor boy.

"Alright, alright, no need to fight. We've been over this," Sakura scolded, separating both of them. They still continued to glare at each other, which Sakura chose to ignore. "Just cheer up, we're getting our teams today."

They entered the classroom just as the bell rang, which caused all the others to rush in too. The three ended up separated, Ino in the back while Sakura and Naruto were stuck with Sasuke, whom they decided to ignore.

Iruka walked in, holding the list for teams. "Good morning class, are you ready to be assigned to your teams?" he was greeted by a few whoops and hollars. He proceeded to read out the teams. There were , surprisingly, no changes at all, the teams remained all the same. "You'll meet your Jounin Senseis in a few hours after lunch!"

* * *

After class, Ino caught up to Naruto and Sakura. "You two are so lucky! You got Sasuke-kun on your team! I got the fatass and the lazyass,"

"I don't feel lucky to be stuck with him. We would trade with you if we could, Ino. Sorry," Sakura gave her female friend an apologetic smile before sitting down to eat.

"Ch, Sakura-chan and I would be a great team without him. He'll only slow us down..." Naruto pouted and sat on one side of Sakura since Ino had taken the other. He sulked quietly, but he wasn't sad enough not to eat his lunch.

* * *

"ARRRGGGHHH! He's still not here! All the other teams went with their Senseis and even Iruka-sesnei went home!" complained Naruto. He wasn't wrong though, they had been waiting for quite a while and there was still no sign of their Sensei.

"Calm down Naruto... He'll be here soon, just sit down," Sakura patted the seat next to her, the one Sasuke wasn't brooding on.

Naruto sighed and was about to comply before he suddenly got an idea. He cracked the door and placed an eraser in the crack to complete the prank. After giving a loud laugh, he sat down beside Sakura, a proud smirk etched on his face.

Sakura snorted and rolled her eyes. "Your an idiot, but I bet it will be pretty funny," she whispered to Naruto who answered with a laugh.

It was then that Kakashi decided to walk in, the eraser plopping onto his head then falling to the floor harmlessly. "How should I say this... My first impressions of you guys are... I hate you. Meet me on the room." was all he said before Shunshining away.

"Alright... Let's go meet him before he decides to hate us even more..." Sakura pushed away from the desk and stood up. "C'mon guys, let's go meet him!"

"Hn." Sasuke replied, standing up and following Sakura out of the room.

* * *

Once they were all on the roof, Kakashi asked them all to introduce themselves. "What you like, hate your dreams, and hobbies. Something like that." he explained from his seat on the railing.

"Hey, hey. Why don't you introduce yourself first, Sensei?" piped up Naruto. He was still untrusting of Kakashi, especially how he didn't dodge the eraser.

"Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream... I have few hobbies."

"Tch... So all we found out was his name...?" Sakura whispered to the both of them. They half-nodded in agreement, still somewhat shocked from disbelief.

"Now it's your turn. You first," Kakashi pointed to Naruto who perked up almost immediately.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like cup ramen. But I like the ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei bought for me even more. I hate the three minutes that I have to wait after I put the hot water in. My hobby is to eat and compare cup ramens! And my dream to become greater then the Hokages! I'm going to make all the Villagers recognize my existence." Naruto said, the whole time fidgeting with his new headband.

"Alright, next."

"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like to train and spend time with my best friends. I dislike people who think too greatly about themselves and people who don't train enough. My hobbies are to train and read lots of scrolls and learn more jutsus and techniques. My dream?" Sakura paused slightly, "Erm, my dream is to become stronger!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the slight pause but said nothing about it. "Last guy."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. The are many things I hate, and there aren't a lot of things I like. My hobbies are training and becoming stronger then everyone. My dream to defeat anyone who dares oppose me."

"Alright, you three have unique personalities. I like that. We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow. First, we're going to do something that we four can do. Survival training. This is no ordinary training. Well, if I say this, I'm sure you three are going to be surprised. Out of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine are going to become Genin. The other eighteen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this training is going to be a very hard test with a drop-out rate of 66%. That? It just picks out those who are qualified to become Genin. Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail tomorrow at the training grounds. Bring you ninja equipment and meet at 5 AM. Now, meeting over. Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast. You're going to throw up if you do." With that, Kakashi disappeared.

_'_**Heh, he thinks he can trick us. Too bad we already know!'** Inner snickered.

_'Shush, I can't wait to see the look on the guy's faces when we show up late. Perhaps this will be more fun then last time,' _scolded Sakura.

"Alright, see you guys tomorrow," Sakura waved a goodbye as she hopped across the rooftops to home.

* * *

The next morning Sakura woke up at 6 AM. After showering and dressing herself, she sat alone at the table, munching on a juicy red apple. He parents were still asleep, they wouldn't wake up until 7:30.

_'You know, I feel almost bad for not meeting up with the boys,' _Sakura thought, finishing the last bite and tossing the core into the trash can.

**'Che, don't. Kakashi-sensei isn't even there yet. He won't be there until 8, remember last time? We waited so long, it was sooooo boring!' **Inner complained, forcing them both to remember what happened last time.

She ended up arriving at the training grounds at 7. As she suspected, Kakahsi hadn't arrived yet and the boys were sitting back-to-back. "Morning boys!"

"Sakura-chan! You're late!" Naruto complained, pointing an accusing finger at the girl.

"Well, I don't see Kakashi-sensei yet... Besides I was eating breakfast," Sakura explained, sitting down besides them. "Oh, I have something for both of you, eat it or you won't have any energy for the survival training!" She handed them an apple, much like the one she ate for breakfast that morning.

"Eh? I suppose that makes sense, if we're hungry then we won't perform as well. Thanks Sakura-chan!" Naruto said and bit into the apple hungrily. He finished it off quickly, throwing the core away and wiping the juice off with his sleeve.

Sasuke contemplated it for a while before finally deciding to accept it. He was hesitant to eat, but did so anyway, throwing away the core just as Naruto did. "Hn. Thanks I guess..."

"Your welcome. So what are we going to do until Kakashi-sensei arrives?" Sakura asked, resting her head in her hands in a bored fashion. She knew it would be at least an hour until Kakashi arrived and they would all grow bored of just sitting there.

They ended up taking a nap, they were all tired, including Sakura who actually went to sleep late at night.

By the time Kakashi arrived at 8, he was fully prepared to be yelled at, namely by Naruto, but was greeted by a surprise. His new students were all asleep, the males snuggled close to his only female student.

_'This should make for good black-mail...'_ Kakashi thought, whipping out a camera out of seemingly nowhere. He snapped a picture of them and tucked the camera back in his pouch. "Yo." he said loudly to wake them up.

They slowly came to, and once they realized their positions, scurried away from each other, each one flushed a deep shade of red.

"H-Hey! You're late Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, pointing the attention elsewhere.

"A black cat crossed my path so... Let's move on. Alarm set at 12 PM." Kakashi coughed and set the timer of the clock before setting it down on a nearby tree stump. "Today's topic is to get one of these bells from me." He held up two bells for them to see. "Whoever can't will get no lunch. I'm going to tie you to a tree stump and eat lunch in front of you."

"Wait, why are there only two bells...?" Sakura asked, playing her part as clueless student. She really knew the answer, but revealing that would make her look too suspicious.

"Since there are only two, at least one will ave to be tied to the log. The person will fail since he failed complete the mission. The person will go back to the academy. It might be just one or all three" Kakashi explained, his eyes closed in a smile. "You can use your shuriken. You won't be able to get the bells unless you have the will to kill me. We're going to start after I say 'Ready, start'"

As soon as he said this, Naruto charged, kunai in hand and ready to slash. He drew his hand back and slashed ferociously, he really was trying with killing intent.

Kakashi caught his hand easily and twisted it so the kunai was pointed at the back of Naruto's head instead of at his own. "Don't get so hasty. I didn't say 'Start' yet. But, it looks like you have the will to kill me now. We're going to start. Ready, start!"

At this, all three jumped away to conceal themselves in the terrain of leaves, bushes, and trees. Sakura and Naruto ended up in the trees while Sasuke was in the bushes.

_'A basic for a ninja is to conceal his presence and hide.' _Kakashi thought, looking around the area. He could easily tell where they were wince they hadn't learned to conceal their chakra yet. _'Good, everyone is hidden nicely...'_

Sakura peered through the branches at Kakashi. She didn't hide her chakra, or elseshe would become suspicious. A Genin wasn't supposed to know how to do that.

_'This is all about teamwork. Sasuke probably won't help, but Naruto will!' _

She raced off to find her blonde teammate. It wasn't hard since he too was concealed in the trees. "Naruto," she whispered and tapped his shoulder lightly.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? What is it?" asked Naruto, turning to Sakura.

"This exercise is about teamwork. It's obvious, there are only two bells, we have to work together to get them. And Sasuke won't help us, so it's up to us to work together," Sakura explained, occasionally glancing over to where Kakashi was standing.

"Ah, I get it, so what's the plan?"

"Okay, okay, listen close..."

Kakashi disappeared, he had to take them out, and his first target was Sasuke. The boy really needed a lesson in humility, Kakashi had determined early on. With little orange book in hand he reappeared near the young Uchiha and before the boy could do anything, pulled him underground.

_'One down, two to go, no where could they be...?_' he thought, then went off to find them.

Sakur and Naruto stumbled upon Sasuke in their search for Kakashi. "Hm, looks like you're stuck in quite a bit of a problem... We'll help you, if you help us!" Sakura said, kneeling down to the Uchiha's head.

"Hn. Fine." Sasuke replied. Usually his Uchiha pride wouldn't let him be helped, but he wouldn't tolerate being sent back to the Academy.

So Sakura and Naruto helped Sasuke out of the hole and filled him in on the plan. Once that was done, they went off to find Kakashi to carry out their plan.

Kakashi stood in the clearing, waiting for his dear students to come out and attack. He glanced at the clock, it was 11:45, almost time up.

Suddenly, Sasuke jumped out of the trees, and took a deep breath. And after making the necessary hand signs, spew out flames. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! ((A/N: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique))"

At the same time, Naruto and his Shadow Clones threw a barrage of shuriken and kunai at Kakashi from the opposite end, trapping their teacher in the crossfire.

While Kakashi was distracted with both attacks, Sakura, the quickest of them all, dove in for the bells. She ran quickly, evading the oncoming attacks intended for Kakashi and swiped the bells before quickly disappearing back into the woods.

_'Distracting me to get the bells... A clever plan. These are definitely not normal Genin,' _Kakashi thought, deftly evading the oncoming flames and weapons with ease. He couldn't stop Sakura from grabbing the bells, but he didn't try to anyway, he would give them this victory.

Sakura looked at the bells in her hands, Kakashi could have stopped her, but he didn't, much to her surprise. "There's only two... I think you two deserve it!" she said, then handed one to Naruto and the other to Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan! What about you?" Naruto asked, looking at the bell Sakura had placed in his open palms.

The alarm went off, sounding the end of the training session, it was all over.

"I'll be fine... You two have a lot more potential then me, I don't mind being sent back." Sakura reassured, "You two enjoy lunch and don't worry about me," She sat down by the middle log and waited for Kakashi to tie her up.

Sakura ended up tied to the log while Naruto and Sasuke sat on either side of her, lunchboxes sitting in their laps.

Kakashi was standing in front of them, looking over his students. "Your stomachs are growling, eh? By the way, about the results of this training... None of you need to return to the Ninja Academy. Sakura, you figured out that this was all about teamwork and got Sasuke and Naruto to help you. But, as a result you gave up your lunch for both of them. Being a ninja means being able to work well with others,teamwork is something that is essential. Look at this... The numerous names carved into this stone." Kakashi walked over to the nearby monument. "All these names are those praised as heroes in this Village."

"I like that, I like that! I decided that I'm going to have my name carved into that! A hero! A hero! I'm not going to die a useless death!" Naruto shouted, looking at the large stone a little ways away from them.

"But they're not normal heroes," Kakashi added, "Those who were K.I.A"

"K.I.A? What's that?" Naruto asked, his head tilted in confusion.

"Naruto, K.I.A means killed in action, they died in battle..." Sakura explained. She trailed off at the last part, memories of the future burned into her mind. She bit her lip and avoided eye contact with all of them.

"This is a cenotaph. The names of my friends are carved in here as well," Kakashi explained, "Well, congratulations. You all passed, but you aren't allowed to let Sakura eat. Anyone who tries to feed her will immediately fail. After lunch is training, be prepared." With that, Kakashi walked away.

They ate in silence, well, Naruto and Sasuke did. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan. You don't get to eat..." Naruto apologized, guiltily chewing a large mouthful of rice.

"I'm fine Naruto, even if I don't eat!" Sakura reassured, after training, she could always eat at home.

"Here," Sasuke handed his lunch to Sakura. "You'll just be more troublesome during training. I don't sense him anywhere near, so hurry."

"Ah, thank you, but the problem is... I can't use my arms..."

"Hey, no worries, we'll feed you!" Naruto replied and shoved a piece of food into her mouth.

And suddenly, in a large cloud of smoke, Kakashi appeared, "You three! You three broke the rule. Are you prepared for the punishment?" As he made a few quick handsigns, he glared at them. "Any last words?"

"But... But... But you said! That's why we..." Naruto complained, backing away slowly.

"We're a three man team, right? We three are one," Sasuke said, his hand already reaching for a kunai in his leg pouch.

"You three are one, eh?" Kakashi asked, stepping forward. He bent down to their level and stared at them through narrowed eyes. "You pass!" he suddenly said, his eye crinkling in a sort of smile.

"Pass...? Why?" They asked together, staring up at the tall Jounin.

"You three are the first. People I had previously were blockheads who just listened to what I said. 'Ninjas need to think beyond the normal' In the world of Ninja, those who break the rules are scum. But those who don't take care of their friends are worse then scum." Kakashi explained, straightening up and looking down at them.

"He's... He's kinda cool," Naruto said , his eyes nearly spilling tears.

"Training ends here. Everyone passes! Team 7 will start doing missions starting tomorrow" said Kakashi, giving them a thumbs-up.

"Yes sir!" Sakura said happily. "Now, erm, can someone untie me?"

"I did it! I'm a ninja, ninja, ninja!" Naruto yelled, jumping up and down in excitement. When he finally stopped, he cut Sakura's ropes with a kunai.

"Let's go home." Kakashi turned and started to walk away.

The new Team 7 followed after him happily almost like little Ducklings.

**'Shannaro! We passed! Not like there was any doubt though!' **Inner was hopping around, her fists pumping.

_'I'm happy too, but calm down, there's still a lot ahead of us!' _Sakura reminded her Inner, giving a mental smirk.

* * *

"What's the distance to the target?"

"5 meters. Ready to strike at anytime,"

"Same here,"

"Me too,"

"Alright, go!"

At this command, they all leapt for their target. It was Naruto that captured him, though. "Gotcha!" he yelled, holding their target close to him. The cat resisted fiercely, scratching wildly at Naruto while Sakura tried to calm it down.

"We got it, ribbon on it's left ear" Sasuke said into the small microphone.

"Good. Lost Pet "Tora" Search Mission. Complete!" Kakshi replied happily.

* * *

"Ohh, my cute little Tora-chan! I was so worried!" Madam Shijimi, the Fire Country Lord's Wife, squealed, clutching the poor cat to her chest.

_'No wonder it ran away poor thing,'_ Sakura thought shaking her head.

Over the past few weeks, Team 7 had been completing many, many D-Rank missions. Their teamwork was stupendous, much to Kakashi's surprise. They all balanced out each other's traits, and when Naruto and Sasuke fought, Sakura was the one who calmed both of them, either by words of hitting both over the head.

"Now, Kakashi's Team 7, your next mission is... Hmm, babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring Village, and helping with potato diggi-" The Sandiame Hokage began, looking over his list of missions.

He was cut off by Naruto who started to yell. "NO! NO! NO! No thank you! I want to do a more, you know, incredible mission! Find us a better one!" he said ferociously.

"You idiot! You're just a Genin! Everyone starts off with the simple duties and works their way up!" Iruka yelled, his hands slamming on the desk as he stood.

"But we get the crappiest missions ever!" Naruto complained, yelling back at his former Sensei.

"Be quiet, you," Kakashi calmly said, this time being to one to hit Naruto over the head.

"Naruto, it seems I have to explain to you what these duties are about," the Hokage began, "Listen, everyday the Village receives numerous requests, from babysitting to assassination. Each requests are written down on these lists," He pointed to the scrolls in front of him, "And divided into an A, B, C, D ranking based of difficulty. The Village is also divided based on skill. Starting with me to the Jounins, Chuunins, and Genins. The missions are then handed out by us at the top to Ninjas based on their abilities. And if the duty is completed successfully, we receive payment from the client. You, who became Genin just recently, are suited for D-Ranked missions."

"Last night I had pork ramen, so miso sou-" Naruto was muttering, ignoring the Hokage's speech completely.

"Hey! Listen when I talk!"

"Eh... I apologize!" Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head apologetically.

"Geez, all you do is give lectures like that! But you know what? I'm not the trouble-making brat you still think I am!" Naruto yelled back, obviously irritated.

"Okay, if you want it that much. I'll give you a C-Rank mission. It's a protection mission of a certain individual. Come in,"

"What's this? They're just a bunch of brats?" came a voice from behind the door. "Especially the shortest one with the stupid face. Are you really a Ninja?"

Naruto grew angry, "I'll kill you!"

"What's the point of killing the person we're supposed to protect?" Kakashi asked, holding Naruto back by the head.

"I am the super expert bridge builder Tazuna." the man introduced, then taking a swig from his large bottle of sake, "I expect you to provide with with super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge,"

* * *

They left not to long later, meeting at the gates before taking off to Tazuna's home country, the Land Of The Waves.

Tazuna and Naruto argued feverishly when they left, not noticing the figures watching them. The group passed by a puddle, none taking notice except Sakura and Kakashi.

_'A puddle when it hasn't rained? Curious,' _Kakashi thought, but pretended not to notice it at all.

_'Heh, I remember that from the first time, they won't get us again,' _ Sakura played her oblivious self, walking along Naruto and Sasuke. "Kakashi-sensei, don't they have ninjas in Wave Country too?"

"No, not in Wave Country. But in most other countries the culture and customs may be different, but Hidden Villages exist, and so do Ninja," he replied, hands resting comfortably in his pockets.

The group passed by the puddle, ignoring it completely, or at least pretending to. Two figures rose out of it and with their chain, trapped Kakashi in it and tore him apart. "One down..." one said, then both immediately went after the rest of the group.

The three Genins acted quickly, each in perfect sync with the others, something the late Kakashi had been training them on. Sakura threw kunai to trap the chain against a nearby tree while Naruto and Sasuke attacked, each with their signature Jutsu. Naruto with his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu ((A/N: Shadow Clone Jutsu)) and Sasuke with his Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu ((A/N: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)).

Both enemy Chuunin where severely scorched and bruised, but managed to avoid the full-on brute of attacks. The let go of the chain, but were not quick enough and were still injured . One went for Naruto and Sasuke, the other flew at Tazuna.

Naruto and Sasuke readied their kunai, blocking the metal gauntlet of the man each time he lashed out. He struck again, but his attacks were blocked again and again until Kakashi stepped in and knocked the man out.

"Sir! Get back!" Sakura yelled as she ran in front of the old man. She collected charka into her hand and punched the oncoming Chuunin.

The man flew back, only to be caught by Kakashi, who now held both under his arms. "Good job you all, great teamwork,"

_'Thank Kami for Kawarimi no Jutsu_((A/N: Sustitution Jutsu))_, else Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have the advantage of surprise,' _Sakura thought, rubbing her gloved knuckles as she stared at the two men dangling in Kakashi's grip.

"Tazuna-san... You have some explaining to do..."

The two awoke to being tied to a tree by their own chain. They both glared back at the Jounin who glared down at them.

"These look like Hidden Mist Chuunin. They're known to keep fighting no matter what," explained Kakashi. When he was asked how he read their movements, he gave a small snort, "On a sunny day when it hasn't rained recently, there isn't going to be a puddle.

"If you knew that, then why did you let the brats fight?" Tazuna asked, still clutching his bottle.

"If I wanted to I could have killed these two instantly, but... There was still something I needed to find out. Who these two were after."

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning if they were after you, or one of us. We haven't heard there were Shinobi after you. Our mission was simply to protect you from thieves or gangs. This has now become at least a B-Rank mission. This was supposed to be simple protection until you completed the bridge. If it was known that Ninjas were after you this would have been set as the more expensive B-Rank mission. I'm sure you had a reason, but it causes problems when you lie about a mission. We are now operating outside of our duties. For now... is anyone hurt?"

"Well, I have this scratch on my hand, but it isn't too serious," Naruto said, looking at the wound on his hand.

"Naruto! Mist Ninja are known for using poisoned weapons! Let me see that!" Sakura scolded, then held Naruto's hand to study it.

"Ah, sorry Sakura-chan, I didn't know... But what can we do about it now?" Naruto scratched the back of his head with his unhurt hand, looking down at his hand. It didn't seem too bad o him, but he learned looks could be deceiving.

A warm green glow enveloped Sakura's hand as she slowly worked to get the poison out of Naruto's system. There was a silence as Sakura drew out the dark purple liquid and let it fall harmlessly to the ground. "There, you should be good now!"

"Wow, thanks Sakura-chan! Where'd you learn that?" Naruto asked, looking in amazement at his newly healed hand.

"Well, my Mother's Friend was a medic and she taught me ever since I was young!" Sakura explained, lucky she was a pretty good liar. "Shall we get going then?"

As they continued their journey, Tazuna walked alongside Kakashi, "Sensei... I have to talk to you..."

* * *

"What thick mist... I can't even see" Sakura said, peering into the think fog.

The group was currently on a boat being rowed across the large body of water separating them from their destination.

While the two adults were in the back, the three Genin were at the front, talking amongst themselves. Sasuke had grown more humble over the time they had spent together as a team, much to everyone's relief, and so he was easier to talk to.

"Che, it feels like we've been on this boat forever," Naruto yawned loudly and rolled his shoulders, he was stiff from being in the boat so long. They couldn't move any quicker, that would require paddling faster, and that would cause noise. And noise meant another fight.

"We should see the bridge soon. The Wave Country is at the base of the bridge," the guide explained, paddling them smoothly across the water.

The bridge soon came into sight. It was truly a spectacle to see, and though it wasn't completed, it was still huge. The construction had been stopped mid-bridge, the cranes and forklifts stood still, lumber and supplies still hanging mid-air.

Tazuna had explained the situation earlier when they were with the two enemy Chuunin. Gatou had control over all the business traffic in the country, he made much money off of it, the only thing threatening his reign was the construction of the bridge. Because of this, no one in the Country had any money and couldn't afford a B-Rank mission.

"Ah, please remember to be quiet, that's why we're hiding in the mist and not using that engine. We'll be in deep trouble if Gatou finds us," The guide paddled them to the docks and waited for them to get out. "This is it for me. Good bye and good luck," He sped away, no longer using a paddle but the engine.

Suddenly, Naruto paused and threw a shukiken into the nearby bushes. There was a dead silence, "Heh... It was just a rat," He sauntered over and parted the bushes, revealing a small white rabbit. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it little rabbit!" he apologized profusely, hugging the rabbit tightly.

Sakura gave the poor rabbit a sympathetic smile, the poor thing didn't deserve to die. She noted its strange, out of season color, but said nothing. "Awe... Poor thing," Patting its head, she gave it a small smile, which didn't seem to do good since it was still frozen with fear.

_'Eh? That snow rabbit, it's white, but it's Spring... This is a rabbit that's been kept in a cage for the purpose of body switching. So they're here already...' _Kakashi stood there for a moment, nonchalantly scanning the area.

In the leaves of a tree kneeled a figure. The very aura he gave off was dangerous and the large sword strapped to his back only confirmed that. _'I see... No wonder the Demon Brothers didn't stand a chance. The Hidden Leaf's Copy Ninja, the Sharingan Kakashi!'_

"Everyone! Get down!" Kakashi suddenly yelled, pulling down Tazuna who was standing next to him.

Sakura, who decided Sasuke and Naruto didn't act quick enough, pulled her teammates down with her to avoid the attack. She had sensed Zabuza and had known all along, but doing so could jeopardize the mission.

A large sword came singing out of the tree at an alarmingly fast rate. All of them barely managed to dodge, the worse injury being a few lost hairs. It boomeranged back and wedged in the same tree it came out of. A man dropped down from the high branches and landed on the handle, looking over his shoulder at them.

"Momochi Zabuza... Missing-Nin from the Hidden Mist," Sakura said, staring up at the man.

"Everyone get back...This one's on a while nother level..." Kakashi held Naruto back who stepped back slightly. "This might be a little tough... Unless, I do this..." He began to pull up his mask before he was interrupted.

"You appear to be Sharingan Kakashi. Sorry but, the old man is mine,"

_'The Sharingan!' _ Sasuke reeled back in surprise. _'Only the Uchiha are supposed to have that! Unless...'_

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san. Do not enter the fight, that's where your team-work training comes in." Kakashi commanded, "Zabuza, first..." His hand pulled up his Hitai-ate, revealing the Sharingan in all its glory.

"Ah... I get to see the famous Sharingan. I'm honored."

"Sharingan, Sharingan! The hell is it!" Naruto interrupted, yelling at no one in particular.

"The Sharingan... It is said that some have the ability in their eyes to read and defeat all types of Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu. It is one of the types of pupils that gives you this power. But that's not the only ability the Sharingan has," Sasuke explained, still looking at Kakashi in confusion.

"Exactly, but that's not all. You can copy you opponent's techniques once you see them," Zabuza continued, "You see, when I was a member of the Hidden Mist's assassination team, I kept a handbook, it included information of you. And this is what it said, the man who has copied over 1,000 Jutsus, the Copy Ninja Kakashi. Now, let's end this talking. I must kill that old man you're protecting. But it seems I'll have to kill you first, Kakashi," The Missing-Nin took the handle of his sword and launched himself off the tree and onto the nearby stream.

"Ninpou: Kirigakura no Jutsu! ((A/N: Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu))" He disappeared, leaving only a single leaf in his wake.

"He'll be coming after me first, as a member of the Hidden Mist he was a known as an expert for his silent killing," Kakashi lowered his stance, his single Sharingan eye darting back and forth. "Protect the client at all costs,"

They Genin nodded, Sakura on the left, Sasuke in the middle, and Naruto on the right, all surrounding the client.

"8 choices..." Zabuza's voice came out of nowhere, effectively scaring them all. "Liver, Lungs, Spine, Clavicle Vein, Neck Vein, Brain, Kidneys, Heart. Which one shall I go after?"

There was a pause, not a sound was heard. And suddenly, Zabuza appeared behind their formation, his sword raised in preparation to decapitate Tazuna. But before he could do anything, the three Genin struck. They had been anticipating this, Tazuna was Zauza's target after all.

Sakura drew back her charka-enhanced fist and slammed it quickly into his chest, sending him flying away from them.

It turned out to be a Water Clone, the water falling harmlessly to the ground. The real one reappeared, but he wasn't given a chance to attack again from the quick actions of both Sasuke and Naruto.

The two boys worked together, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu ((A/N: Shadow Clone Technique)) and Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu ((A/N: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)) were used with just a quick flurry of handsigns. This successfully caused the Missing-Nin to fly back, injured, but not out of commission.

It was then Kakashi interfered, engaging in a fast-paced Taijutsu match with Zabuza. He dodged the heavy sword, but their dangerous dance and interrupted with a kick from Zabuza who sent Kakashi flying into the water.

"Suiro no Jutsu! ((A/N: Water Prison Jutsu))" Zabuza made a few quick handsigns and trapped Kakashi in a large sphere of water. "Heh, you may have been trying to escape to the water, but that was a mistake. Now you're trapped. Now to take care of the runts!"

_'We have to get Kakashi-sensei out of there or he'll run out of air. Any ideas Inner? We have to distract him...' _The edge of her mouth curled up into a slight snarl as Zabuza made another Water Clone.

**'Well, I'm technically you, so if you don't have an idea, I won't have one either. But lucky for us, you have one, so here's what you do...'**

"Alright boys, come close, I have a plan, first, we need to distract the original," Sakura began, waving her teammates in.

* * *

It's really long, I know, but I had a lot of fun on this and it got a little out of hand.

Is it to your liking?

Thank you for reading!

firetiger3


	2. A New Story?

Second chapter to my first story, this is slightly shorter, in words that is, then the first chapter. However it took up more pages... Odd.

I'm updating so quickly because I have no life and did almost nothing but work on this story. True story.

But thank you to those people who reviewed! It means a lot to me, thank you for your support!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Reminder:

"Nya~" Talking

_'Nya~' Thinking_

**'Nya~' Inner**

_Nya Flashback_

Thank you for reading!

* * *

"Alright, that's the plan, now hurry, we don't have much time!" Sakura had quickly told them the plan, it turned out less descriptive then she would have liked, but time wasn't exactly on their side. She hoped it would work, and she refused to let just Naruto and Sasuke handle Zabuza by themselves.

"You guys! Take Tazuna-san and run away! You have no chance of beating him! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this prison, he can't move!" yelled Kakashi. "The water clone cannot go very far from his real body. Just run away now!"

_'Sorry Kakashi-sensei, but we're not exactly normal Genin, remember?' _ Sakura smirked ever so slightly. As tempted as she was to say those words, she refrained herself from doing so. Instead, she glanced to her left, Sasuke, and then her right, Naruto.

Both boys gave her a nod, they were ready.

"What are you doing! Run away!" Kakashi seemed desperate, his voice hinted it ever so slightly, "This fight was over the moment I was caught! Our duty is to protect Tazuna-san, did you forget that!"

She ignored her Sensei's words and charged at the Missing-Nin, her fist already pulled back and glowing a familiar blue.

He seemed to have anticipated this, perhaps not from her though, she didn't seem like such the reckless type. The Clone swung its sword mercilessly, aiming to slash off her head quickly.

_'A kill blow. Seems he doesn't want to deal with us,' _Sakura noted. In a swift motion, she slammed her un-enhanced hand down on the large blade and pushed off, effectively giving her a leverage of a few feet.

Zabuza, or rather him and his clone, hadn't expected this, a mere Genin shouldn't be that fast. He slashed upwards at the small girl, he had decided that she had just been lucky. He wouldn't let that happen again.

But it did happen again, Sakura pushed off from the sword and landed a few feet away. She charged again, this time sliding under the sword and punching upward, connecting viciously with the Clone's chin. There was a sickening crack before it disappeared, becoming water once again.

At the same time, while the clone was distracted, Sasuke and Naruto ran for the original. In a flurry of handsigns, Naruto created a massive amount of shadow clones and sent them to attack the man.

It was ineffective, with one hand, Zabuza used his sword and cut them all. They disappeared in large puff a smoke, leaving Zabuza standing there with a smirk.

Naruto grimaced slightly, he knew it wouldn't work from the beginning, but it didn't hurt to try. He seemed to suddenly get an idea and reached into his bag. "Sasuke!" he yelled to his teammate and threw a blurry object at him.

The Uchiha caught the item and grinned once he realized what it was. "Evil Wind Shuriken! Shadow Windmill" he yelled as he opened the large shuriken, revealing all its glory. He lowered his stance and threw the weapon at the man standing in front of them.

"Sorry, that won't work on me," Zabuza easily caught the large weapon, stopping it's constant rotation almost immediately.

Another one appeared from its shadow, spinning quickly towards the Missing-Nin's feet.

"Another?" Zabuza sounded surprised, but he gaze a snort and easily jumped over the incoming object. "Still not enough,"

The shuriken suddenly poofed and Zabuza turned. In its place was Naruto, holding a kunai tightly, his knuckles white from ripping it tightly. With a small growl, he threw the sharpened metal at Zabuza.

He immediately jumped back, causing the water prison to release its former captive. Though he was quick, he couldn't dodge the offending weapon which scratched his cheek, blood flowing swiftly out of it. "Damn brat!" he yelled, obviously angered. The large shuriken still in his hand was drawn back and ready to be thrown.

In a large clang of metal against metal, Kakashi stood, in front of Zabuza. The metal plates on his gloves had clashed against the sharp metal and broke, the blade digging into his skin. "Good job you all," he complemented, sending a deathly glare at their enemy. "You've really grown up since our first meeting. But now, Zabuza, I warn you, I won't fall for the same Jutsu twice,"

"Bah!" Zabuza snarled and jumped away, already forming rapid handsigns, calling out the name of each as he created them.

Kakashi's Sharingan spun, already telling what the Missing-Nin would do and he began to copy his moves. Every word, every handsign was in perfect sync. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu! ((A/N: Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!))" both yelled. Large bodies of water surrounded both of them and formed gigantic, menacing Dragons, growling fiercely at the other.

At this point, the three Genin had resumed their position surrounding Tazuna. As the two Dragons clashed, a large wave of water flooded over them, strong enough to sweep them away. They landed only a few feet away, where they regained their footing and helped Tazuna stay in place with them.

_'If I remember correctly, then Haku should appear soon,'_ Sakura thought, holding Tazuna and keeping him from being swept away by the strong current.

The water fell away, revealing Kakashi and Zabuza, their weapons locked in a fierce battle of strength. At the same time they both leapt away from each other and began to run in circles. They copied each others moves perfectly, much to Zabuza's surprise.

_'My moves, he's completely...' _Zabuza thought, beginning the handsigns to another Jutsu.

"...reading them," Kakashi finished, creating the same handsigns his opponent did.

His eyes widened in shock, faltering slightly, but not stopping. _'What! Did he read my mind? Damn! That...'_

"...freaky eye is pissing me off. Right?"

"Heh, all you're doing is copying me. You can't beat me you monkey bastard!" They said at the same time, both their words and hand signs were timed together, it seemed to be pissing off Zabuza.

The last statement was true apparently, that was obvious from his next words. "Damn you! I'll make it so you can never open that mouth again!" He finally completed his hand signs but paused slightly at what he saw, staring at Kakashi.

It was him, standing behind the single eye Sharingan weilder.

_'Me! That's not possible! Is this one of his Genjutsu?' _ Zabuza snarled, looking at Kakashi _'What! Impossible! I'm the one doing the Jutsu, but I can't keep up!'_

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu! ((A/N: Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!))" Kakashi's Sharingan eye spun wildly and the water rose up dangerously high before spiraling towards Zabuza.

The strong current was hard to resist, but the three Genin managed to stay in place and help Tazuna too. It was hard, but since the Jutsu wasn't directed at them, they were able to stay in place.

"How..?" Zabuza coughed, he had been blown back into a tree, the splinters were digging deeply into his back, "Can you see the future?"

"Yeah... You're going to die!" Kakashi replied, staring down at the man, kunai in hand.

Two senbon flew out of the nearby tree, striking Zabuza in the neck. The Missing-Nin fell to the ground, blood flowing steadily out.

"Hehe... You're right! He is dead," The answer came from a masked figure standing above them, looking at them from a branch on a nearby tree.

Kakashi jumped down from the tree and laid two fingers on the man's neck. _'Hm he really is dead,'_

"Thank you very much. I've been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time," The figure bowed deeply and jumped down from the tree.

"That mask... You're a Hidden Mist Hunter-Nin," Kakashi noted, _'From his voice and height, he's not much older then my Students... Yet he's a Hunter-Nin...'_

"Impressive, you are correct. It is my duty to hunt down Missing-Nins. I am a part of the Hidden Mist's Hunter-Nin Team," The Hunter-Nin kneeled by the dead body of Zabuza, "Your battle is now over. I must dispose of the body since it seems to have many secret. Farewell," With that, the kid lifted Zabuza onto his back and disappeared.

"Now... We should get Tazuna-san back home," Kakashi gave a small sigh and replaced his Hitai-ate.

"Haha! Super thanks guys! Come over to my house and relax for a while!" Tazuna laughed, fixing the brim of his hat.

There was a soft thump and the group turned around. Kakashi had fallen, muttering something about over-using his Sharingan and not being able to move.

"Eh? What's wrong Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, helping her Sensei up and propping him up.

"I over-used the Sharingan, now I can't move," he sighed, allowing himself to be helped to Tazuna's house.

* * *

"Are you alright, Sensei?" asked Tsunami, the twenty-nine year old daughter of Tazuna. Her hands were on her hips and she was slightly glaring at the man laying in front of her.

"I'm fine... I just have to rest up for a week or so," Kakashi replied, hiding a soft sigh from the already irate woman.

"The Sharingan is incredible... But if it puts that much stress on your body, you must think before using it," Sakura was sitting beside Kakashi's funton, checking his health every once in a while.

Naruto and Sasuke sat beside her, talking about Jutsus and weapons. They both would never admit it, but they had grown to be best friends though they still competed fiercely.

"Alright, I'm going to check your Sharingan, tell me if I starts hurting," Sakura said calmly, her glowing green hands hovering over Kakashi's Sharingan eye, checking it through his Hitai-ate. Her eyes were closed, squeezed tight in concentration.

Kakashi laid there in silence, allowing Sakura to do her job as a medic. Every move she made seemed to have purpose, he dully noted, an old habit of his. Every now and then there was a flicker of uncomfortableness, but luckily, no pain.

The other two boys looked over Sakura's shoulder at her work, occasionally glancing at her face, checking if she was still okay. They said nothing though, interrupting her work could mean serious damage. To them, that was. Both unconsciously shuddered. Sakura had a mean right hook.

It was a while before Sakura finally opened her eyes a dismissed the chakra that had gathered around her hands. "I've managed to heal some of the major damage the Sharingan might have caused, but it will take a few more sessions to heal completely. For now, it should put less strain on your body, but still try not to use it too often then necessary," She gave a wry smile and wiped a few droplets of sweat from her forehead.

"Are you okay Sakura-chan? Tired?" Naruto asked, quickly rushing to her aid, as well as Sasuke. Both gave each other glares before theit attention turned back to the girl.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I didn't use up that much chakra, besides, I promised you guys I would train with you!" Sakura reassured, lightly pushing the two off her.

**'Kami! When did they get so overprotective!' **whined Inner, her lips curled into a pout.

_'Probably when I stopped being a fan-girl and actually trained,' _Was Sakura's answer. She mentally smirked, Sasuke had become much nicer after she stopped being such a fangirl like all the other girls in their grade.

_Flashback Begin_

_Sakura and Naruto were walking into the classroom, Ino was sick that day, stuck to bed with the common cold._

_As they approached the doorway, it was crowded with screaming girls, even ones not from their class. Meanwhile, Iruka was trying to get the other girls back to their classrooms. It took sometime, but eventually he succeeded, if not with some scratches and hurt feelings._

"_It's like this everyday, I don't get what's so great about this teme," Naruto complained, looking over the classroom for a seat. Most had been filled in already, except, surprisingly the ones next to Sasuke, who had refused to let anyone sit near him._

"_Well, it looks like the only seat lefts are the ones next to him, so stop complaining," Sakura sighed, shaking her head, "If you hate him so much, I'll take the seat next to him so you can be farther away, happy?"_

"_Very," Naruto replied cheekily, then taking a seat after Sakura sat down. _

_Sasuke gave Sakura a weird look and he leaned slightly away from her, fearing she was yet another fangirl of his._

"_Tch, don't flatter yourself, teme. Not every girl is a fangirl of yours, and you're just lucky it's that one girl who isn't swooning over you that's sitting next to you," sneered Naruto, leaning over the table to talk to the dark-haired boy._

_Sasuke seemed surprised before regaining his usual emotionless appearance, "Hn,"_

"_How dare you speak to our Sasuke-kun that way!" screeched a girl behind their desk. A few others next to nodded fiercely in agreement and still others started to crack their knuckles._

_Sakura turned to them, struggling to contain her rage, "What makes you think that your precious "Sasuke-kun" is so special it gives you the right to treat others like dirt! He didn't ASK you to stand up for up, did he? In fact, he doesn't even talk to you! So what makes you think he even cares?" She had said it without yelling, as much as she wanted to, but the girls reacted as if she had, reeling back in shock._

_One girl even latched on to Sasuke's arm with a pitiful expression. "Y-You don't really think that, right Sasuke-kun?" she asked, her voice shaky and unsure._

"_I do," was all he replied, shaking the girl off his arm. "Thank you for clearing that up...?"_

"_Sakura, it's Sakura. And the rude one is Naruto,"_

"_Hey!"_

* * *

_After the Academy day had ended, Sasuke had left with Sakura and Naruto, mostly for the sake that Sakura scared his fangirls._

_The walk, at first, had been awkward, but they all got used to each other after a while. Talking came easier to all of them, especially since Sakura actually focused more on training instead of on her appearance._

"_So what would be your weapon what you get older?" was the conversation starter, which Sakura had said in an attempt to rid the tension in the air. It had sparked a long conversation, it seemed they all had a love of weapons. "Mine would probably be Axes or something. It would be so cool!"_

"_Hn, a Katana," Sasuke replied._

"_Oh! I would have a huge Sword!" Naruto exclaimd, waving his hands as if to emphasize the size if would be._

"_Haha, well, out opinions will change over time, who knows! Well it seems we all love weapons!" _

_The conversation continued on varying from different weapons and their pros and cons. Their conversation paused when they arrived at the Uchiha Gates where Mikoto was waiting for her son._

"_Oh? It seems my little Sasuke has made some friends! Come in, please!" she gushed, ushering her son and his new-found friends inside._

_Sasuke sighed, "I apologize for this...My Mother has always pushed me to bring friends home," he explained, rolling his eyes and carefully removing his shoes at the door._

"_Oh, it's cool," Sakura reassured, "Besides, does that mean you have never brought friends home?" She followed his example, taking off her shoes then looking around the room. It was a grand room, exceptionally large and very nicely decorated._

_Naruto also removed his shoes, running his hand through his messy blonde locks. He wasn't used to being in such a fancy place. Most fancy places were owned by Civilians who hated him._

"_Nope, never. Except for the occasional fangirl that follows me home," Sasuke shook his head and plopped down on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table._

_Naruto and Sakura sat down next to him and they resumed their conversation, its previous ferocity picking up again._

_Mikoto watched her son and his friends from the kitchen. She smiled, it was about time her Sasuke got some friends, she was starting to fear he would remain antisocial all his life. _

_After finishing the dishes, she quickly threw together some sandwiches and brought it out to the living room. "Ah, is anyone hungry? I made extras!" _

"_Thank you Uchiha-san!' Sakura smiled, reaching for a small sandwich triangle. "It tastes amazing!"_

"_Yeah! This is really good! Thank you Uchiha-san!" Naruto said, his cheeks already stuffed full._

"_Oh, so polite! Please, call me Mikoto! And thank you, you just need quality ingredients!"_

"_Mo-om..." _

"_Oh, I must be embarrassing you. Call me if you need anything!" Mikoto whisked away to her bedroom. She couldn't wait to tell her husband the good news._

_After a while Sakura glanced at the clock, "Ah, I have to get going! You boys be good and don't fight! I'll see you tomorrow!" She hugged both of them before slipping on her shoes and leaving through the front door, waving to both as she ran back home.  
_

* * *

_Over the rest of their years at the Academy, they walked home together. Ino never accompanied them though, her Mother always picked her up._

_The topics of their little talks differed every day, though they usually were connected in some with becoming a Ninja. They continued to stop by at each other's house, sometimes at Sasuke's, other times at Sakura's, and surprisingly, even Naruto's if they felt like having ramen. _

_It continued that way for some time and they would have to change the routes they walked daily, fangirls who spotted them would wait in the path the next day, hoping to see their precious "Sasuke-kun"_

_They became fast friend though during the day hey would rarely talk, or else Sasuke's fangirls would give them hell. They didn't seem to change, even after Sakura's lecture._

_Perhaps it was just pure luck they were all put together on the same team..._

_Flashback End_

"Hey guys... Remember when we started hanging out?" Sakura suddenly asked, looking over their sleeping Sensei.

There was a short pause. "Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, "You really showed those fangirls, Sakura-chan!"

"Oh, Mother..." Sasuke shook his head then snorted lightly, "I'm still thankful for that, they backed off for at least a day or so,"

"We should go out and start training before it gets too dark. We'll be back Tazuna-san, Tsunami-san!" Sakura smiled at the bridge builder and his daughter before heading outside, the her teammates following.

* * *

"Alright, what should we start with? Pushups?"

"Hey teme! I bet I can do more pushups then you!" Naruto yelled pointing an accusing finger at the Uchiha boy.

"Hn. You're on dobe. Sakura, count for us, will you?" Sasuke said, smirking and going down in a pushup position.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright, on my count. Down," Sakura commanded, deciding to do push-ups along with them.

It continued for quite a while, the boys sweating profusely. They had stripped down to just their boxers, unashamed.

Sakura was sweating considerably less, she was used to doing a large amounts of pushups, but it was unfair since she had a lot more training. She had also stripped down, but remained in her shorts and bindings. "Heh... Giving up boys?"

"N-No... way... Sakura...-chan!"

"Not until... I beat... the dobe!"

"Alright, but don't complain too much when you can't move! Down!"

* * *

Both boys collapsed on their stomachs, gasping for air and not daring to move another inch for fear they couldn't move for a much longer time. It seemed very unfair, to them that was, that Sakura wasn't as tired and could still move around when they were merely immobile.

Sakura giggled and stood up, "I'll get you some water, just try to sit up for now! And don't strain yourselves or you'll pull something!" Once inside, she looked around for some bottles of water. After finding some, she hurried back outside and handed a bottle to each of them.

"Thanks Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped between large gulps of water. He crushed the plastic bottle and threw it a few feet away onto the grassy ground.

"Yeah, thanks," Sasuke repeated, finishing his water quickly and doing the same with his bottle.

Sakura smiled and nodded before finishing her water in the same manner. "There's still some time in the day, so, want to spar? Or are you still too tired?" she taunted, plopping down on the ground across from them.

"How can you not be tired after all those pushups?" Naruto whined, panting slightly from fatigue.

"I've been training. A lot. Mostly because I refuse to be the weak link of the team,"

"Alright, let's have a three-way spar before we go in," Sasuke confirmed with a nod. He stood up and brushed some dirt off himself.

* * *

The three laid there in a circle, heads towards the middle and limbs sprawled wildly. It had been a long battle with no limitations, dangerous without a doubt. They all laid there, depleted of chakra and luckily, not wounded, thanks to Sakura.

"How are we going to get inside now...?" Sasuke asked, his head turning towards Sakura first, then to Naruto.

"Tch. Let me rest for a while, then I'll carry you inside," Sakura sighed, glancing towards the two besides her. She was tired, but perhaps if she stayed still for a while she could manage to drag them all inside.

They laid in silence for a while until Sakura finally stood and heaved Sasuke and Naruto up. "Alright, we have 10 feet to the house. Stay on your feet until we get into bed," she managed to say andhelped both of them inside.

It wasn't an easy trip, they were all tired and over-exerted, but they managed to stumble into the house where they all collapsed on the floor.

Luckily for them, Tsunami had heard them and rushed over. "Goodness! Look at yourselves! How'd you manage to do this!" she exclaimed, then helped them to their room. Unfortunately, it was a rather small house and they had to share a room.

"Thank you, Tsunami-san! Kami bless you!" Sakura exclaimed, landing softly onto her futon. It was in the middle of Sasuke's and Naruto's, and was decorated pleasantly with a white background along with stripes of orange, pink and blue.

"Yes, thank you," Sasuke repeated, climbing into his own futon, a plain dark blue and black one. He shifted around a while before finally settling down on his back, facing the ceiling.

"What they said!" Naruto said with a grin. He pulled the covers up of his orange and white futon, laying on his side facing Sakura.

Tsunami giggled, "You kids are too nice! Well, rest up!" With that, she left the room, softly shutting the door behind her.

"Well, I'm pretty tired, Night, Boys!" Sakura said, then pulled the covers up before falling into a peaceful sleep.

"Night Sakura-chan, teme,"

"Hn,"

* * *

The next morning Sakura woke before the other two. She took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed her clothes before rushing into the bathroom. She stood in the shower for a while, not for the scrubbing off all the dirt and grime, but on just contemplating the previous day.

_'Alright, today should be the day that Kakashi teaches us to walk on tree without using hands. I hope it takes them less time then it did before...' _Sakura stood there for a while, soaking in the warmth of the downpouring water.

**'With our help, they should only take... About a day or so. Naruto has horrible chakra control, and Sasuke has reasonable chakra control, it'll be easy to teach both if we turn it into some sort of competition,' **Inner replied, for once she seemed serious, but then again, it was a serious matter.

Sakura got out of the shower not too long later, changing her bindings then dressing herself in her usual attire ((A/N: Referring back to Chapter One. Refresher: Tight dark green shorts, sleeve-less black top with Haruno Bymbol on the back, and black leather gloves)) and returning back to the bedroom where Naruto and Sasuke were now awake.

"Morning, Boys!" she chirped, packing away her old clothes in her bag. "Sleep well last night?"

"Hn, I suppose so. I get shower first dobe," Sasuke replied, then ran for the bathroom before Naruto could even reply.

"Hey! That's not fair teme!" Naruto complained, then plopped down again on his futon. "Well, I slept well, I had a dream I became Hokage!"

The two continued to talk until Sasuke finally came out of the shower, his hair still dripping wet, but a small towel around his neck caught the droplets. "Hn, shower's yours dobe,"

"Thanks, teme!" Naruto yelled, then rushed into the bathroom with his clothes before anyone else could steal the bathroom from him.

He didn't take long in the bathroom, coming out just a few minutes later which caused both Sasuke and Sakura to raise their eyebrows. "Hey, what's with that look!"

"Eh, nothing, nothing... Let's go get breakfast," Sakura waved him off then left for the kitchen where Tsunami was already done with the food. "Do you need help taking the food to the table, Tsunami-san?"

"Ah? Oh, yes, thank you Sakura!" Tsunami gave the girl a smile before unplugging the rice cooker and bringing it to the table.

Sakura carried the bowls and chopsticks to the table, setting it quickly before anyone could come in and get in her way.

_'Mmm, it looks delicious, Tsunami-san is a really good cook!'_ Sakura unconsciously licked her lips and sat down on a cushion to wait for everyone.

It wasn't a long wait, everyone soon came tumbling into the dining room. First Naruto and Sasuke who were yelling at each other until Sakura hit them both over the head. Then Tazuna-san, Kakashi, and Inari, who hadn't been introduced to them yet.

"Ah! Inari! You're back!" Tsunami exclaimed, picking up the small boy in her arms. "Where did you go last night?"

"Nowhere," was his curt reply. He struggled out of his mother's grasp and sat down next to her, a small scowl on his face.

Naruto and Sasuke sat on either side of Sakura while Kakashi and Tazuna sat a little ways away from them. ((A/N: If you're confused, the seating is basically: Tazuna at the head, Tsunami, Inari, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi.))

"Ittadakimasu!" They chorused, slapping their hands together before digging in to the wonderful meal Tsunami had prepared, white rice with bits of grilled salmon and Natto. ((A/N: Natto= fermented soy beans))

"Thank you for the wonderful meal, Tsunami-san!" Sakura said with a smile in the young woman's direction.

Naruto, with his stuffed cheeks, nodded in agreement. He swallowed his food before confirming his opinion with: "Yeah, it was great!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, muttering an insult under his breath. "Thank you," he simply stated and placed down his now empty bowl and chopsticks.

Kakashi coughed to get their attention. "Yes, thank you Tsunami-san. But, if you're done eating, then meet me outside for training," He stood slowly and hobbled out with the help of his crutches.

* * *

They met outside, nearer to the woods then when they were training the day earlier. "So, why are we training Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, hands behind his head and elbows out to the side.

"Two reasons. One, to keep up your skills. Two, I've done some thinking. Zabuza is probably still alive. That Hunter-Nin didn't get rid of the body on sight and disappeared with it. Not to mention he's just a kid that used senbon. There are known points in the body that can kill temporarily. That's why we need to train, in case Zabuza attacks again,"

"Eh, Zabuza, alive! We were barely able to save you from him last time!" Naruto grimaced at remembrance of the battle. They had barely managed to pull that off...

"Hm, that's very likely... But doesn't it take some time for the body to recover?" Sakura asked, her head tilted slightly. She had read about it in some books before, but she had never taken time to really read deep into it.

"It does, it take a few weeks for the body to return to full health. So for now, we have to train hard. Today's lesson is tree climbing without using hands!" Kakashi smiled, from what they could tell by the crinkle in the corner of her visible eye.

"Eh? How are we going to do that?"

"By chakra of course! Concentrate it in your feet and them climb up the trunk of the tree. Let me demonstrate," Kakashi drew some chkra to his feet and began to climb up the tree trunk, crutches and all. He finally stopped at a nearby branch, not daring to go to far or else he would get injured and not be able to get down. "The main point of this. Is to teach you chakra control. The amount of chakra is small, but needs to be exact," He began to go into detail about the importance of chakra control and how it would help in battle. After his lecture he jumped back down to the ground to watch their progress.

"Oh, I get it..." Sakura nodded slowly, "So it's our turn, right?" She received a nod and they began to climb. She remembered this lesson, and with her perfect chakra control, it was easy to complete. Scaling the tree was easy and she waved down to the others once at the top. "Hehe... This was pretty easy!"

Naruto, who had attempted a few times already fell off the first couple times, marking the tree only a few feet above the ground. He tumbled off, scratching and bruising himself along the way. "Urg, this is harder then it looks..." He scraped the blood off one of his scratches and wiped in on his shirt before trying again, making it farther then the last few times.

Sasuke at first, concentrated too much chakra, the bark exploding violently around his foot. He avoided the flying splinters and tried again, making it a few feet higher then Naruto. "Hn, I guess its difficult..." he reluctantly admitted, brushing some dirt off his upper arm.

"Well, looks like the one who has the best chakra control right now is... Sakura!" Kakashi said, then a sudden idea struck him. "Not only is she knowledgeable and strong, but her chakra control and stamina are quite good too. She's the closest to becoming Hokage, unlike a certain someone..."

This effectively struck a nerve in Naruto who muttered something about stupid Senseis and how the Hokage title would be his before trying to climb the tree again.

"And I guess the Uchiha clan isn't worth much either..."

This one was obviously aimed for Sasuke, there weren't any other Uchiha around now were there?

"Hey, I get you're trying to spur them on, but turning them against me...?" Sakura complained, sending a glare over to her Sensei who waved his arms rapidly and apologizing profusely. "Tch, alright you guys, the secret is not to put in too much, or the bark will break around your feet. Too little, and you won't stick. Don't get excited, or you chakra will spike and you'll end up falling off. The trick is to relax so your chakra won't spike or run thin! Right, Sensei?"

_'She figured it out that quick? We may have a little Genius on our hands," _Kakashi nodded, then turned his attention to the two less successful students. Sasuke had made it farther then Naruto, but then again, since Naruto had larger chakra reserves, his judgement of "enough chakra" would be thrown off.

Sakura eventually jumped down from the tree branch after watching the two fall a couple times. They were getting much better as time passed on, the marks getting farther and farther apart each time. Both ended up pretty bruised and scratched, but nothing too serious that Sakura had to be fetched.

Kakashi had sent her to the bridge to overlook the workers and heal them in the rare case anything happened, or in an even rarer case, to protect them if someone attacked.

But she ended up helping out on the construction instead of just sitting on the sidelines doing nothing. She was currently carrying a few heavy wooden beams to he construction sight when she heard two men conversing, one she recognized as Tazuna.

"Hey... Tazuna!""

"Eh? Oh, what is it Giichi?" Tazuna asked, wiping sweat from his face with a towel that hung loosely around his neck.

Giichi was an elderly man, around his 50s, his hair slowly graying. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and... Can I stop working on the bridge?"

"Why is that? This is so sudden! Not you too!" Tazuna yelled, immediately dropping his towel in surprise.

"Tazuna, we've been closed for a long time now. I want to help you, but if we continue, Gato will notice us, and if you get killed, what's the point? Why don't we quit now? Building the bridge..."

Tazuna just looked away, his teeth grinding together slightly. "I can't do that. This bridge is our bridge. This is a bridge we started building together, believing it would bring resources into our poor country,"

"But if we loose out lives-!" He was interrupted suddenly.

"It's already noon, let's stop for today. Giichi, you don't have to come tomorrow,"

* * *

Tazuna and Sakura were walking through the crowded streets, the occasional scream ringing fresh in their ears. "I'm supposed to bring food home for lunch... Ah, here we are," He stopped them in front of a small store with a limp sign hanging on the wall.

Sakura noted the small homeless child huddling in front of the store and glanced around before bending down to the child and folding a few candies into his hand. When the boy looked up to thank her she simply put a finger to her lips and winked before rushing in.

"Welcome," the clerk said, not bothering to look up from his downcast gaze.

"There's hardly anything to buy in here..." Sakura muttered, looking around the desolate room. Suddenly she felt a hand reaching down, lower and lower. "PERVERT!" she screamed, lifting a chakra-infused leg and slamming it into the man's back.

**'Ah, I forgot about him... but he still deserves it for trying to pickpocket us' **Inner growled, sneering ferociously.

"Er, let's go, before you break another man's spine," Tazuna said, patting Sakur'a back lightly and ushering her out of the store. He heaved his bag back onto his back, now stocked with food from the store. "You sure surprised me earlier, I didn't know you had that kind of strength in you,"

"Ah, thanks I guess...? By the way, what's going on in this city?" As they walked, a small child tugged the hem of Sakura's shirt. She almost mistook it for another pervert but soon realized her mistake once she saw the innocent face of the child with her hands held out. Sakura smiled softly and folded some candies into the child's hands who grinned and took off, clutching her newfound treasure.

"It's been like this since Gato came," Tazuna explained, watching the child run off through the crowded dirt streets. "All adults have lost hope. That's why we now need that bridge. A symbol of courage... We need for the people to lose their fear and regain their desire to stand up for themselves. If that bridge... If it can be completed, the city will return to that time... The people will return to how they used to be,"

Sakura kept her gaze down at the ground, following Tazuna back to the house. Instead of going inside with him, she headed back to the training grounds where Sasuke and Naruto were still attempting to climb the tree. She noticed they were much farther up then before and smiled. "You're almost there!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Keep at it!" She stood there for a while, watching them climbing their trees and marking it with a slash.

* * *

It was almost sundown when both managed to finally climb to the top. They stood there for a while, basking in their accomplishment, but it was short-lived since they had to climb down for dinner. Tsunami had prepared dried fish with white rice and a side of miso soup.

Naruto and Sasuke had engaged in a competition, both eating as much as they could, "More!" they both shouted before flinching and bending over and throwing up what they had ate.

"Idiots! If you're going to throw up then stop eating! This Village barely has enough food, they don't need you throwing up what little they have" Sakura could barely restrain herself from hitting both of them. Here they were, wasting food while there were hungry children on the street. "I get you're trying to become stronger, but don't eat to the point where you throw up!"

**'It's no use trying to correct them, they didn't go out into the streets and watch those kids like we did.' **Inner shook her head in disapproval, crossing her arms just to accentuate her point.

_'Then perhaps we should bring them to town tomorrow. I'm sure Kakashi would agree, he has a heart too,' _Sakura glanced over to her Sensei who was talking casually with Tazuna.

**'Che, sometimes it seems like he doesn't,'**

_'Shush, he can be nice, he just shows it in his own special way,' _Sakura continued finishing her meal, watching the two boys glaring at each other the whole time. _'Don't those two ever stop?'_

After dinner, everyone was lounging around, talking idly with the others. "Hey, who do you have a torn picture on the wall? Inari-kun was staring at this during dinner. It seems like someone purposely removed the person in the picture,"

"That's my husband..." Tsunami replied, not looking up from the dishes she was washing.

"And... The man called the hero of the city," Tazuna continued, looking down into the green tea he was currently drinking.

Inari paused what he was doing and pushed away from the table, walking out the front door. He said nothing, his eyes downcast and staring at his feet.

"Inari! Where are you going! Inari!" Tsunami turned angrily to her father, rage apparent on her face. "Father! I told you not to talk about that man in front of Inari!" She rushed after Inari, slamming the door behind her.

Tazuna began to explain, "Inari had a father not related by blood. They were very close like a real father and sin. Inari would laugh a lot back then... But Inari changed since the incident his father was in... The word "courage" has been stolen from the people of this Village... And from Inari. Ever since that day, because of that incident,"

"That incident? And what happened to Inari?" Kakashi questioned, peering at Tazuna through his visible eye.

"Before I get to that, I first have to tell you about the man who was called the hero of this city," Tazuna removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes before continuing. "It was about three years ago..."

_Flashback Begin_

"_Pochi!"_

"_Wrong, this is Shooting Star. He's my dog starting today," A large boy held the dog while two other boys restrained Inari._

"_He's not Shooting Star, that's my Pochi Give him back! Pochi is my friend! I won't give him to you!" Inari yelled, violently trying to break the steely grip of his captors._

"_Shut up!" The large boy paused then threw the dog into the water. "Heh, that's what you get. I don't care about that dog anymore. You can let Inari go now,"_

"_What are you doing! You'll kill him!"_

"_He's your precious god, right? Go save him. Hurry," the boy taunted, intending to strike a nerve in the other boy._

_It worked, Inari flinched visibly, staring over the edge of the dock._

"_What's wrong? Look, Pochi's going to die. Hey if he's your dog, then jump in!" The boy lifted his foot and kicked Inari in mercilessly._

"_This is bad, Akane-san... If he can't swim..." his lackey protested, inching away slowly._

"_Forget him!" Akane yelled, "Unless you want to save the pet,"_

_Right then, Pochi remembered he could dog-paddle and swam away, leaving Inari behind to call after him and drown._

* * *

_Inari awoke suddenly. At first he was confused, shouldn't he be dead? How had he escaped?_

"_You're finally awake, kid?" _

_Inari's eyes widened and he turned towards the man sitting by the fire._

"_I yelled and taught those bad kids a lesson," The man handed Inari a roasted fish on a stick, "Here, eat!"_

_Inari bit into the fish hungrily. "Y-You saved me?"_

"_You sure were getting picked on, tell me what happened,"_

_After some explanation, the man nodded, "I see, so even your dog didn't help you? In my Country, dogs are very loyal animals. But you didn't try to save him either, so what did you expect?"_

_Inari paused from eating, "I was scared I couldn't move... I wanted to sake him! But because I don't have any courage..."_

_The man stuck his hand out and ruffled Inari's hair, "Yeah... Any kid your age would be afraid. But kid... Just remember this: If you're a man, choose a life of no regrets. For something that is precious to you... No matter how tough, no matter how sad, you must try and try. And even if you lose your life, protect it with these two arms!" He gave the boy a grin, "If you do that, even if you die, the proof of a man's life will remain... Forever. Right?"_

"_Yeah!"_

_Flashback End_

"The man's name was Kaiza, a fisherman who came here to follow his dream. After that, Kaiza and Inari became very close. It may have been because Inari's real father died before he got to know him, but he and Kaiza were inseparable, like a real father and son. It was only a matter of time before Kaiza became a part of the family. And Kaiza was also a man the city needed,"

_Flashback Begin Again  
_

_A man burst into the house where Kaiza and Inari were talking. "Terrible news! Kaiza, the rain is overflowing the dams! D-Area is going to be flooded!"_

"_What? Inari, bring me a rope!" Kaiza yelled, standing up and knocking the chair over._

_At the bridge a group of workers were standing in the pouring rain. "This is bad. We'll have to tie a rope to the gate and pull it close!"_

"_Are you crazy! How can we tie a rope to it? If you enter those rapids, you'll die!"_

"_But if we don't do something D-Area will we wiped out!"_

"_I'll do it,"_

"_Kaiza!"_

_There was a chorus of "Don't do it!","You'll die!","It's too much, even for you!" from the crowd of workers, all surrounding the brave man._

"_Dad!" Inari ran up to Kaiza, his childish eyes wide with fear._

"_Don't worry your Dad is invincible..." Kaiza smiled and placed a reassuring hand on Inari's head. "Because your Dad loves this Village where you are from," With that, he jumped into the water, rope clutched tightly in his hands._

_Inari watched from above, leaning over the railing to watch. "Dad! You can do it!"_

* * *

_And from then after, Kaiza was called a hero by the Village, Inari couldn't be more proud of his Father. But then Gato came to the city and put Kaiza to death in front of the whole Village._

"_Listen up! This man has been conducting terrorist activities against Gato Corporation! He has been disrupting this Country's peace and as punishment will be put to death! I just hope something like this never happens again!" Gato yelled, then smirked, "Kill him,"_

_The crowd was restrained by a large circle of chain-link fences, Inari amongst them. "Dad! You said you'd protect me... the city... with your own two arms! You're a liar Dad!" he yelled out, pressing his tearstruck face against the fence._

_His words were not heard by Gato's guards who unsheathed their swords and didn't hesitate to plunge it deep in Kaiza's stomach._

_Flashback End_

"And from that day, Inari changed... Tsunami changed... And the whole city did too..." Tazuna explained. "Well, it's getting late, good night," He pushed away from the table and left the table.

"He's right, well good night my dear students," Kakashi nodded slightly and hobbled away on his cruthes, back to his own room, leaving the Genin alone.

They sat there for a while in silence before going back to their room.

Sakura sat on her futon, bringing her knees to her chest, "Hey, I was thinking we could go to the market-place tomorrow, Kakashi-sensei will probably want us out of his hair for at least a day,"

"Sound good to me!"

"Hn,"

"Well, alright, I'm going to sleep. Night," Sakura laid back in her futon and curled up in the blankets, snuggling close to her pillow. The sweet song of sleep was too great for her to resist and she fell asleep not too long later, into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next morning, after breakfast, Sakura had asked Kakashi for the day off from training. "Please, Kakashi-sensei? I know you want to get rid of us for a day or something! You won't see us for a whole day, plus, we completed the tree-climbing exercise!"

Kakashi looked at his female student who had her hands clasped together and pracically begging to have a free day. He sighed, "Fine, fine. You all can have today off from training,"

"Yay! Thank you Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura squealed, hugging the older man before rushing out the door to fetch the other two.

Kakashi just shook his head, watching out the window as his three students walked together to the town. He smiled, "You know, it looks like it's the beginning of a wonderful story,"

* * *

As I read over this, I realized I've jam-packed this with a lot of fillers. Oh well, I'll get back on track. All in due time, dear readers, all in due time... I also realized I changed some things. At first I was worried, but then I remembered this was my fanfic, and I can do what I want.

Yeah, I lost creativity during some parts, I hope it's still up to your standards!

I know I need to work on my fight scenes, perhaps I'll create a short oneshot of just a battlescene...

Before I forget! I have one very obvious moment of foreshadowing somewhere in my story! It involves the pairing I've decided on! Think you know...?

Again, thank you for reading!

firetiger3


	3. To Town and Back

Ah, the third edition to the story. Please enjoy!

Also, this is not a ItaSaku story, sorry person/people who wanted it to be that pairing. I might try writing one though.

Back on track... The pairing I've decided to make this story is NaruSakuSasu. And though I've always hated SasuSaku, I don't mind them in a threesome pairing. **So... The story will be listed under Sakura and Naruto since I absolutely refuse to list it under SasuSaku. As of July 21 this story will become listed under Sakura H. and Naruto U.**

Note: Naruto uses Ryo as currency, right? Well, Ryo is quite dated, approximately $150 US Dollars. 1 Ryo is 60 Monme of silver or 4 Kan of copper. 1 Monme of silver is $2.50 US Dollars and 1 Kan of Copper is $37.50 US Dollars. **If you are confused, please refer to this!**

I've decided to make my stories shorter, mostly for my own reasons. So here it is, my shortest chapter so far!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Reminder:

"Nya~" Talking

_'Nya~' Thinking_

**'Nya~' Inner**

_Nya Flashback_

Thanks for reading!

* * *

They were walking along the crowded dirt streets of the Village. Though it was lined with shops and stands, it was obvious business wasn't doing well at all. Some people were walking around with signs begging for jobs of any sorts. There were many people lining the streets, hats or cups in front of them with little to no coins contained inside.

"The Village is in such poor condition... It's important for Tazuna-san to finish the bridge so the economy will pick up again," Sakura grimaced slightly at the amount of people lining the streets. Many were kids, she noted and bit her bottom lip in guilt. She wanted to help them, but the best thing she could do was help Tazuna with finishing the bridge.

Naruto hung his head guiltily, avoiding eye contact with the other people on the street. "Now I can see why you got angry when we ate all that food and barfed it up,"

Sasuke nodded, not bothering to grace them with any words. He held his head high as opposed to the other two, he felt no shame in doing so, he would be helping save them all be completing the bridge anyways.

"Oh! This place looks, er, nice," Sakura pulled them towards a tourist shop. It was starting to slowly collapse from lack of reconstruction and the paint was chipping away from the walls. The inside was a bit nicer then the outside, the shelves were stocked with various trinkets and toys, some locally made, others obviously shipped in from factories.

Sakura picked up a small child's toy, a delicately carved and painted in the shape and colors of a Blue Jay spreading it's wings,. The price was printed on a small white sticker on the bottom of the foot. "5 Monme," it clearly read in bright red lettering. Her eyes widened slightly, 5 Monme was a lot of money for such a simple trinket, the same amount could easily buy breakfast for the three of them.

"Ah, you're probably surprised at the price, right?"

Sakura turned in surprise, blue jay still cupped in her open palms. "Eh? Oh, well, yes actually. Where I come from, the price might be 2 Monme at the most,"

The voice turned out to be the owner, a middle-aged woman who owned the shop with her husband and son. "I apologize, Gato had been raising the tax to a tremendous amount and we must survive on what little we can sell from the store,"

Sakura nodded in understanding and gave the woman a weak smile. "I'll take it. It's a very nice piece, I doubt they have a piece like this anywhere else," She dug into her pouch and handed the coins to the lady before carefully pocketing the delicate object.

Meanwhile, Naruto was studying cheap plastic trinkets. It had obviously been factory made and packaged in a cardboard box. Contained in the box were nine plastic toys, the nine Tailed Beasts. There was a large sticker clearly reading the price, "10 Monme,"

"Expensive... But I'll take it," he muttered, then slapped down the coins onto the desk. He turned it over a few times in his hand, sure it was cheap, but it still looked pretty nice, at least, in the package it did.

And of course we cannot forget about our little Uchiha! Sasuke was looking over the various shelves and stands of miscellaneous objects. Nothing really caught his eye, so he continued to skim the merchandise with bored eyes. Until it finally rested on small stone statue across the room. Upon further inspection, it was a Lion with one paw resting on a blue orb and it's face crafted into a ferocious roar. It was relatively small, perhaps a little larger then his fist. On the bottom in large black marks was printed, "12 Monme,"

Sasuke winced slightly at the price but dug through his pockets and placed a few coins on the counter. He fingered the Lion, the details were fairly intricate, though not overly done like some others he had seen in the same store.

The three met in front of the store. "So, what did you all buy? I got this cute little Blue Jay toy... Thing... Oh well, it's cute and that's all that matters," Sakura pouted, holding up the object she had bought before tucking it away again.

Naruto laughed lightly then held up the small cardboard box of what he had bought. "Heh, that's funny Sakura-chan. I bought these figurines of the Tailed Beasts. It looks cheap, but, eh, oh well," He shrugged, then stuffed it back into his bag.

Sasuke said nothing and just presented the statue before packing it away again. "So where to next?" he asked boredly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

* * *

As they day progressed they occasionally stopped from store to store, they never bought anything else, but it was fun to look around. About halfway through the day they walked out of town and into the forest for some "light" training.

"Hey teme! I bet I can beat you!" Naruto taunted, sticking his tongue out at the the other childishly.

"Hn, you're on dobe," Sasuke smirked. It was the one he almost always seemed to have on his face if he wasn't wearing an emotionless facade.

"What'd you call me, emo bastard!"

"I called you a dobe loser,"

"Teme!"

"Dobe,"

"Shut up!" Sakura intervened, slapping both of them on the back of the head, effectively shutting both of them up. "So are we going to train or what?"

"Hai, hai..." Naruto muttered, nursing the slowly rising bump on the back of his head. "How about we teach each other some Jutsus? Then when we fight together, we can cover each other's weaknesses,"

"That's actually not a bad idea..." Sakura contemplated, which seemed to offend Naruto greatly. "But we need to know our Chakra Natures,"

Naruto tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Chakra... Nature?" he asked, his voice obviously hinting that he didn't know what Sakura was talking about.

Sakura sighed and shook her head slightly before taking a deep breath to explain to the two, "Alright, how do I explain this... There are originally five elements, elements differ depending op each Shinobi. While all have at least one, many are known to have two elements. The five Chakra Natures are Fire, Wind, Lightening, Earth, and Water. Fire is weak to Water, but is strong to Wind. Wind is weak to Fire, but is strong to Lightening. Lightening is weak to Wind, but is strong to Earth. Earth is weak to Lightening, but is strong to Water. And Water is weak to Earth, but is strong to Fire. With me so far?"

When she received two nods she continued, "Advanced elements such as Wood Release and Ice Release are created by combining different Chakra Natures. Doing this is only possible with a Kekkei Genkai or having a Tailed Beast with two Chakra Natures that are able to be combined into a whole new Chakra Nature. Your affinity makes it easier to create and control the Nature in question. Chakra Nature is found out by special Chakra Paper. You hold it between you fingers and push a small amount of Chakra into it. Fire will ignite and turn to ash. Wind will split the paper in two. Lightening will wrinkle the paper. Earth the paper will turn to dirt and crumble. Water the paper will become wet. Shall we find out ours?" She presented them with a small sheet of paper, one for each of them.

Naruto gulped anxiously before taking the paper between his fingers and pushing chakra into it. He had closed his eyes during the process, so he slowly cracked an eye open to see the results, the paper had split perfectly in half. "Sweet, Wind..." he muttered with a small smirk on his face.

When Sasuke had tried, he had a determined look upon his face when he forced chakra into the paper. It immediately wrinkled before going up in large flames. The soft wind blew the ashes away, deep into the forest and then into the ocean. He said nothing, but only mentally noted that his Natures were Lightening and Fire.

Sakura bit her lip and grimaced slightly. In her past life, she hadn't even known her own Chakra Nature, or Natures, and now she would finally find out. She hesitated slightly before pushing a small amount of chakra into the paper. It seemed like forever before the results finally came, growing dripping wet before crumbling away. Her eyes widened before a gin was plastered onto her face. "Awesome! Water and Earth!" she squealed happily.

"Wait, wait, wait... How come you two have two Chakra Natures while I only have one!" Naruto whined, tossing away the two pieces of paper in mock anger.

Sasuke snorted, "That's because you're not strong enough, dobe,"

"Shush, Sasuke. You know full well that's not the reason!" Sakura reprimanded, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "You see, some people are known not to have two Natures. But it's also known that a part of those people acquire another Nature as they grow. So, there's still hope!"

Naruto pouted, but said nothing more on the topic.

"Now, why don't we share Jutsus, that way, when we ask Kakashi-sensei to train us, he can teach us the proper Jutsus,"

* * *

Over the next few days they went back to the bridge to watch over the construction and help out when Kakashi wasn't taking them aside to train with them. The Three Genin had told them of their Nature discoveries, which he was truly surprised about, since when had any of them had knowledge about Chakra Nature? Hen was happy though, now he didn't have to explain to them, so instead, he put them all the work on controlling their affinities and mastering Jutsus.

Work was strenuous on the bridge, under the hot sun and with short breaks. It was lucky work only lasted until noon, then they could all go home to a nice shower and dinner.

It was about 4 days after their little day off that something seemed a little different. Sakura couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but something didn't feel... right. She brushed it off and sat down for breakfast.

_'Inner, is something supposed to happen today? Something feels off,'_

**'Well, Ms. Forgetful, I'll remind you. Today's the day Zabuza and Haku attack the bridge,'**

Sakura almost spit out the rice and dried fish she had just bitten into. "Kakashi-sensei! Tazuna-san! We have to get to the bridge now!" she yelled, then pulled on her boots and bolted out the door.

Sasuke paused, then shoveled the rest of his food into his mouth before running after his teammate. "Sakura! What's wrong at the bridge!"

"Argh... What's gotten into that girl?" Kakashi sighed and slowly put on his shoes before printing after the two. His body had fully recovered, and he had long forgone the crutches since he needed them no longer.

Tazuna was slower then the rest of them, finishing his dinner and gathering his tools before slipping on his sandals. ""Well, better see what's the matter," he mumbled, the walked after the three of them.

And Naruto? He had slept in late that day, so he was still stuck in bed, snoring away and oblivious to whatever was going on.

They arrived right before the slaughter, the workers were all still alive and well, working strenuously on completing the bridge.

Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Good, they're all still alive... But that means they're coming now..." she muttered, her hand immediately flying to her pouch.

And as if on cue, a thick mist surrounded them, blocking their sight. Immediately, they formed a circle around Tazuna, weapons drawn.

"Everyone! Run away," Kakashi commanded, it was directed at the workers who immediately dropped everything and sprinted away.

"Long time no see Kakashi,"

* * *

Is that too short? I've been kinda busy lately, so I haven't had much time to work on this. I know it's not my best, but... Whatever. I've filled this with so many fillers too, but, I have no clue why I did. Just bear with me.

firetiger3


	4. Author's Note

Whoo! Thank you for the criticism! It's weird, but I like criticism, it makes me a better writer, and that means I can make my stories better for the people reading it.

So lemme clear some things up:

In Ch 1, _**Tazuna**_ says "Sensei... I have to talk to you..." Sorry if that was confusing, but in the manga, Tazuna calls Kakashi Sensei, as does Tsunami. This is when Tazuna explained why he was being followed and targeted.

The Uchiha Massacre, I mostly made this fic Non-Massacre because I wanted to make this a NaruSakuSasu fic. When I thought about it, if I the Uchiha Massacre did happen, or rather it has still been suggested and not carried out yet, there would be the problem of killing the elders. And then, of course, it all started because the Uchiha wanted a place of power. Not to mention that Madara had a hand in that too. So if I made this a Massacre fic, then it would be too much like every other time travel fic out there. And... That's mostly my reasoning. Meaning, the Massacre did not happen in either Sakura's "old past" or her "new past", it messes with the real Naruto storyline a lot, but this is my fic, and I do what I want.

And finally, I base a lot of this on the manga... I suppose I do it in fear that someone will say "That never happened! You got it wrong!" But, I think I'm starting to get over it, I'll be trying to do my own things from now on.

On another note: Perhaps NaruSakuSasu wasn't the wisest choice of pairing for this fic, but it's my OT3, that's "One True Threesome" for those of you who don't know what that is. I love it, and you can't change it, so there! In hindsight, I probably should have had a different pairing, but I really didn't put too much though into because I had my mind set on NaruSakuSasu. But, oh well. Live with it or don't read.

But, I got some bad news, I'm abandoning this fic. It's almost school time, and that means no time to work on this at all, I've also lost interest in this. At first it seemed like a good idea at first, kinda, but now that I've typed out three whole chapters I've... lost my interest in this fic, writing it hasn't been as fun as it used to be. I've barely worked on the fourth chapter, so, I'm just not continuing this anymore.

It will go up for adoption, if anyone wants to actually adopt this story, which I highly doubt. But, I wish you the best of luck if anyone does.

Signing off this story forever,

firetiger3


End file.
